Buffer wheels



March 1962 J- R. KRISTOFIK 3,023,550

BUFFER WHEELS Filed Nov. 4, 1958 Fig. l

Resinous Adh e s v e u um O I Fig. 3

WITNESSES INVENTOR 2A Joseph R.Kristofik BY MTTOR zEY 3,023,550 BUFFERWIEELS Joseph R. Kristofik, Dearborn, Mich., assignor to WestinghouseElectric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed Nov. 4, 1958, Ser. No. 771,883 7 Claims. (Cl. 51-193)This invention relates to buffer wheels, and particularly to flexible rresilient buffer wheels embodying heat conductive material to enable thesurfaces to run cooler.

Buffer wheels commonly in use are usually formed of layers of flexiblenon-abrasive felted or woven material, such, for example, as cottonfabric, quilted or stitched together and superficially charged at theperiphery with abrasive or polishing material.

The primary disadvantage of such buffer wheels is that they haverelatively short life. This is particularly true when the buffer wheelsare operated at high speeds required to obtain satisfactory bufiing orpolishing action. Intense heat is created during operation and since thenon-abrasive material is a. poor conductor of heat, the

material will burn' or char in a short time. Furthermore,

theheatcreated tends .to .breakdown the abrasive or polishing material,adversely affecting itsbufiing qualities. In normal operation, owing tothe relatively short life of such buffer wheels, it is necessary tooperate .the wheel lntermittently and to stop the buffing operationfrequently so that the buffer wheel can be replaced.

The object of this invention is to provide a member adapted to buff aworkpiece which member comprises a 7 lay r of metal associated with aplurality of layer of fibrous sheet material, the said metal and fibroussheets being combined in heat-conducting relationship whereby heatgenerated during bufiing is conducted away from the bufling surface andthe workpiece.

Another object of this invention is to provide a buffer wheel composedof a plurality of layers of relatively thin sheets of metal foil andlayers of non-abrasive fibrous sheet material, which buffer wheel hasprolonged life and improved buffing action.

Other objects of this invention will, in part, be obvious and will, inpart, appear hereinafter.

For a better understanding of the nature and the objects of thisinvention, reference should be had to the following detailed descriptionand drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a cross-section of composite sheet material suitable for usein preparing the buffer wheels of this 1nvent1on;

FIG. 2 is a top plan View of a disc for preparing buflfer wheels; and

FIG. 3 is a side view, wheel on a spindle.

In accordance with this invention there is produced a novel buffer wheelwhich has prolonged useful life and improved bufiing action. The bufferwheels of this invention comprises a highly heat conductive metal inassociation with conventional non-abrasive fibrous sheet materialusually employed in preparing buffer wheels.

The heat conductive metal employed in this invention is preferably onethat can be easily and readily fabricated into relatively flexiblesheets of a thickness of from about mil to 10 mils. Furthermore, themetal, in sheet form, should be soft and not hard so that when employedin the buffer wheel of this invention its abrasive action will not beharsh and score the workpiece. Examples of suitable metals that meetthese requirements are aluminum, magnesium, copper and base alloysthereof.

Aluminum metal is preferred because of its good heat conductingproperties, its availability in thin flexible sheets, and its relativelysoft abrading or bufiing properties.

partly in section, of a buffing 3,023,55il Patented Mar. 6, 19162 is? kThe invention will be detailed hereinafter with respect to aluminum;however, it will be understood that sheets of the above listed metalsand other heat conducting metals and alloys meeting the above listedrequirements may also be employed.

The non-abrasive fibrous sheet material employed in association with theheat conductive metal to produce the buffer wheels of this invention isany conventional sheet material employed in preparing bufler wheels.Usually the thickness of the material will be from about 1 mil to 25mils. The sheet material may be felted or woven from vegetable fiberssuch as cotton and sisal, or animal fibers such as wool, or syntheticfibers. The invention will be detailed hereinafter with specificreference to cotton fabric. It will be understood that the othermentioned materials may be employed.

Aluminum is used in sheet form preferably as foil. The thickness of thesheet will be such that the sheet has good flexibility and will have arelatively soft abrading action. Usually, foils of a thickness of theorder of about mil to 10 mils will be satisfactory. In foil form thealuminum may beemployed in combination with cotton fabric by adhesivelybonding it to either one or to both sides of each layer of thecottonfabric.

Other combinations of heat conductive metal and cotton fabric may alsobe employed. For example, a layer of aluminum may be vapor deposited onone or both sides .ofthe cotton fabric and suitable bufiferswheelsprepared therefrom. a

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, aluminum foil is employedas the heat conducting metal and woven cotton fabric is employed as thenon-abrasive.

, ferred, in order to provide the most uniform polishing actionthroughout the buffer wheel, that it be formed by alternating the layersof the aluminum foil and cotton fabric.

In the construction of the buffer wheels of this invention, the cottonfabric serves to retain and to apply to the workpiece the buffingcompound which is employed during the bufiing operation, and the heatconducting metal serves to conduct away from the periphery of thebufling wheel the heat created during use and thereby substantiallyprolongs the useful life of the bufling wheel. It is preferred that thesheet of aluminum foil be substantially coextensive with the cottonfabric. However, the foil need not necessarily extend to the center ofthe buffer wheel, and can be disposed for some several inches from theperiphery of the buff. Thus, the aluminum foil will be at or near theworking pheriphery of the buffer wheel during buffing of the workpiece,and the heat created will thus be uniformly and rapidly conducted awayfrom the workpiece.

A particularly suitable material for the construction of the butterwheels of this invention is that in which aluminum foil having thethickness of from about V2 mil to 5 mils is adhesively bonded to atleast one face of a sheet of cotton fabric having the thickness of fromabout 5 mils to 25 mils. The adhesive employed may 'be any conventionaladhesive, a suitable adhesive being a thermoplastic type of adhesivematerial such as, for ex ample, polyvinyl acetate, glue, polyvinylalcohol, and polyethylene glycol terephthalate.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing there is shown composite flexiblesheet material 10 which is highly suitable for use in preparing thebufling wheels of this invention. The composite sheet material 10 iscomposed of a layer of aluminum foil 12 adhesively bonded to a sheet ofwoven cotton fabric 14 by adhesive material 16.

The composite sheet material is cut into a disc 18 and a plurality ofthese discs are assembled in a manner shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing.As. shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing,-there is a spindle 20 carrying asupport plate 22. Mounted on the support plate 22 and having an openingtherethrough through which passes the outer end of the spindle 20 is abutter wheel 24 which may be demountably locked to the spindle by topplate 26 and nut 28. The buffer Wheel 24 consists of a plurality ofdiscs 18 laid flatwise layer on layer to provide a butter wheel 24 ofthe desired thickness. Each disc has a central opening therethrough, Thestack of discs are held together by stitching (not shown) around thecentral opening.

Other methods well known in the art may be employed to prepare thebuffing Wheels of this invention. Thus, for example, the compositefabric and foil sheet 10 may be bias cut into an endless band and onelongitudinal edge of the endless band folded in pleats about a metal hubor the long strip may be wrapped medially lengthwise about the metal hubto form an annular disc of desired thickness on the hub having mountingopenings therein.

Anodized aluminum foil is particularly suitable in preparing the bufferwheels of this invention. Anodized aluminum foil cooperates with theadhesive to provide a more substantial bond between the foil and thefabric, and provides improvements in the huf ng properties of the butferwheel. 7

Anodizing aluminum foil is well known in the an. Aluminum foil may beanodized for example by the process described in Patent 2,769,265 toPage. Either or both sides of the aluminum foil may be anodized and thetotal thickness of the anodized coating should not exceed 20% of thethickness of the aluminum foil.

While the invention has been described with particular reference tobuffer wheels, it will be understood that buffing devices such asbufiing pads, bufiing sticks, bufting blocks and other shapes may besimilarly prepared.

It will be understood that the above description and drawing areillustrative and not in limitation of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A laminated buffing device comprising a plurality of layers ofnon-abrasive fibrous sheet material and a plurality of layers offlexible metal foil having a thickness of from about A: mil to 10 mils,the layers of flexible metal foil being adhesively bonded to a face ofeach fibrous sheet, the sheets being substantially coextensive.

2. A buffer wheel comprising a plurality of approximately disc-shapedlayers of non-abrasive fibrous sheet material of a thickness of fromabout 1 mil to 25 mils and a plurality of layers of aluminum foilsheeting of a thickness of from about mil to 10 mils, said sheets beingsubstantially coextensive.

3. A buffer wheel comprising a plurality of approximately disc-shapedlayers of non-abrasive fibrous sheet material of a thickness of fromabout 1 mil to 25 mils and a plurality of layers of aluminum foilsheeting of a thickness of from about 4 mil to 10 mils, the aluminumfoil sheeting being adhesively bonded to a face of each fibrous sheet,the sheets being substantially coextensive.

4. A buifer wheel comprising a plurality of approximately disc-shapedlayers of non-abrasive fibrous sheet material of a thickness of fromabout 1 mil to 25 mils and a plurality of layers of anodized aluminumfoil sheeting of a thickness of from about A mil to 10 mils, theanodized aluminum foil sheeting being adhesively bonded to a face ofeach fibrous sheet, the sheets being substantially coextensive.

5. A bulfer wheel comprising a plurality of approximately disc-shapedlayers of non-abrasive fibrous sheet material of a thickness of fromabout 1 mil to 25 mils and a plurality of layers of metal foil sheetingof a thickness-of from about mil to 10 mils, said sheets beingsubstantially coextensive.

6. A buffer wheel comprising a plurality of approximately disc-shapedlayers of non-abrasive fibrous sheet material of a thickness of fromabout 1 mil to 25 mils, each of said layers of fibrous sheet materialcontaining on its surface a uniformly deposited layer of fine aluminumparticles.

7. A buffer wheel comprising a plurality of approximately disc-shapedlayers of non-abrasive fibrous sheet material of a thickness of fromabout 1 mil to 25 mils, each of said layers of fibrous sheet materialcontaining on at least one surface thereof a uniformly deposited layerof line aluminum particles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,573,961 Zucker Feb. 23, 1926 1,576,223 Robbins Mar. 9, 1926 2,027,863Hall Jan. 14, 1936 2,492,143 Gipple et al. Dec. 27, 1949

5. A BUFFER WHEEL COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF APPROXMATELY DISC-SHAPEDLAYERS OF NON-ABRASIVE FIBROUS SHEET MATERIAL OF A THICKNESS OF FROMABOUT 1 MIL TO 25 MILS AND A PLURALITY OF LAYERS OF METAL FOIL SHEETINGOF A THICKNESS OF FROM ABOUT 1/4 MIL TO 10 MILS, SAID SHEETS BEINGSUBATANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE.